TheFishMan65
New member
BMB, now did I say anything about a tap? I do not use self tapping screws, but I no longer tap 2 holes with the same screw and vise grip pliers are your friend.
DIY LEDs - The write-up - (split again)
- Thread starter TheFishMan65
- Start date
brassmonkyballs
BMB
Info they gave you is probably spec sheet info. I measured an HLG 120B and it dims down to 5%. In my case 4 strings splitting 2.9A and a single string goes down to 35ma...or 140ma for all 4 strings. It is pretty linear at various voltages as well.
I wonder if the 240w issues have really been resolved. Has anybody used a 'newer manufactured date' one successfully?
By the way reeferdale...you don't have to supply voltage to the dimming circuit for the HLGs...100k Ohm potentiometers is all you need...though 0-10V works too.
Friend of mine is using the new ones with 10v signal succesfully but ofcorse she cant dim them dark with pots. Another hobbyist just got two new ones for his rig but he was reporting that the pwm signal was reversed. So all of the functions of his controller were backwards when he hooked it up to his new 240's. I think he got that straitened out but the last time i talked to him he said he couldnt dim his hlg's dark with the pwm controller. I havent seen him around lately to ask how things are still going.
I can tell you that im just finishinf up a build and im using two of the LPF drivers which are supposed to be virtually the same thing and have te same features as the HLG's and i can dim mine to 0 no problem. They go dark at 9%.
I can tell you that im just finishinf up a build and im using two of the LPF drivers which are supposed to be virtually the same thing and have te same features as the HLG's and i can dim mine to 0 no problem. They go dark at 9%.
brassmonkyballs
BMB
Yeah the HLGs don't go dark but go very dim. Have to cut power. I use a Dim4 controller with relays to accomplish that.
Fish.....vise grips....hehehe.....
Fish.....vise grips....hehehe.....
reeferdale
New member
Hi all, I have some pics. I am only working with the blue LEDs at this point (1 driver). I measured the signal wire coming from my POT a 3 positions, low, med and hi. Perfect, I got 1v, 5v and 10V
I attached these wires from the POT to the signal wires on the driver. Plugged in the driver and then measured the voltage on the driver wires (red/black) the voltage is a constant 48v regardless of where the knob on the pot is turned. Pics below.
I guess I just am looking for confirmation that the voltage coming out of the driver leads should drop based on the signal from the POT? I hooked up a second driver and tested this, same results. This was one driver from each 'group' of serial numbers I have. I initially hooked this up and turned it down, plugged it in and the LEDs lit up blicked a bit and then went out. Pretty sure all the fuses fried. Just too late now, I will check that in the morning. am I missing something here or am I trying to make something work that is just broke?
here is the total rig - only working with half the drivers and sinks at this point. Till I get these working no point in making it too heavy to move. I have the other 3 sinks all wired up & ready to go if I can get this half to work
typical heak sink with 42 LEDs
I attached these wires from the POT to the signal wires on the driver. Plugged in the driver and then measured the voltage on the driver wires (red/black) the voltage is a constant 48v regardless of where the knob on the pot is turned. Pics below.
I guess I just am looking for confirmation that the voltage coming out of the driver leads should drop based on the signal from the POT? I hooked up a second driver and tested this, same results. This was one driver from each 'group' of serial numbers I have. I initially hooked this up and turned it down, plugged it in and the LEDs lit up blicked a bit and then went out. Pretty sure all the fuses fried. Just too late now, I will check that in the morning. am I missing something here or am I trying to make something work that is just broke?
here is the total rig - only working with half the drivers and sinks at this point. Till I get these working no point in making it too heavy to move. I have the other 3 sinks all wired up & ready to go if I can get this half to work
typical heak sink with 42 LEDs
kcress
New member
Stop and think about the driver. It's a current driver. How does a current driver work? What is its job? Its job is to maintain a specific current as dictated by the dimming setting. How does it do this? It does it by controlling the voltage.
You have NO load on the output. There is no closed circuit! If an HLG is on it is trying to drive at some current level. You have no way for any current to flow on those unconnected leads. To try to get something going the driver cranks up the voltage. Still nothing? Crank it up some more! Keep doing that until 1) you reach the level desired or 2) you reach the highest voltage possible.
You should be reading ~48 ALWAYS on an unconnected HLG. You are. There is nothing wrong in the picture.
By the way the above logic is why you can blow out all your LEDs if you hook-up the drive leads while the driver is powered. It will be sitting at the maximum voltage. That voltage might be capable of driving 8A thru 10 LEDs. You hook up - pfffffft. Game over. That can happen a dozen times in the blink of an eye if you have a loose connection in a string. With a light bulb circuit the light will flicker. With a LED circuit the LEDs will blow.
We need to see this same setup with the pot all the way down and the LEDs connected. What is the drive voltage then? What is it when the pot is set to 2V?
You have NO load on the output. There is no closed circuit! If an HLG is on it is trying to drive at some current level. You have no way for any current to flow on those unconnected leads. To try to get something going the driver cranks up the voltage. Still nothing? Crank it up some more! Keep doing that until 1) you reach the level desired or 2) you reach the highest voltage possible.
You should be reading ~48 ALWAYS on an unconnected HLG. You are. There is nothing wrong in the picture.
By the way the above logic is why you can blow out all your LEDs if you hook-up the drive leads while the driver is powered. It will be sitting at the maximum voltage. That voltage might be capable of driving 8A thru 10 LEDs. You hook up - pfffffft. Game over. That can happen a dozen times in the blink of an eye if you have a loose connection in a string. With a light bulb circuit the light will flicker. With a LED circuit the LEDs will blow.
We need to see this same setup with the pot all the way down and the LEDs connected. What is the drive voltage then? What is it when the pot is set to 2V?
reeferdale
New member
Thanks kcress. I had no idea how the driver 'knew' how much to output.
I will get this wired up again to the terminal blocks and test it. When I turned them on last night for the first time since re-wiring, the blues all lit up but like I said they all blinked and went out. I checked the LEDs and they seem OK so I am going to check the fuses an then see what type of curent I have on the resistors
I will get this wired up again to the terminal blocks and test it. When I turned them on last night for the first time since re-wiring, the blues all lit up but like I said they all blinked and went out. I checked the LEDs and they seem OK so I am going to check the fuses an then see what type of curent I have on the resistors
TheFishMan65
New member
Remember tp turn the dimming pot all the way down to start.
reeferdale
New member
quick update. Had to replace ALL the fuses on these 5 strings of blues. I always make sure the POT is turned down all the way when initially plugging these in, something spiked on my first attempt yesterday that is why I was mistakenly trying to measure the dimming signal to ensure it was working. Like I mentioned, using a driver from the 022 batch of SN# they lit up but seemed to flicker a little bit or 'vibrate'
I fired up the blues with a 180 SN# driver and they were running ok. Even the vf on each string was not outrageous. I will post the actual string voltages later this afternoon once I get the whites connected and everything is running.
I switched to the 022 SN# driver and I quickly unplugged it. It seemed that the blues had a vibration to them when they were running on the 022 SN# driver. So I am going to hook up this half using the 022 SN# drivers so I can get some readings and try to balance these strings now.
Later today or tomorrow I will be able to drop the other heatsinks in place and see how they do. They will have to be run on the 022 SN# drivers, if these two drivers in the 022 SN# range blow the fuses again, I am going to have to try to return them and I need to get some more fuses anyway.
I fired up the blues with a 180 SN# driver and they were running ok. Even the vf on each string was not outrageous. I will post the actual string voltages later this afternoon once I get the whites connected and everything is running.
I switched to the 022 SN# driver and I quickly unplugged it. It seemed that the blues had a vibration to them when they were running on the 022 SN# driver. So I am going to hook up this half using the 022 SN# drivers so I can get some readings and try to balance these strings now.
Later today or tomorrow I will be able to drop the other heatsinks in place and see how they do. They will have to be run on the 022 SN# drivers, if these two drivers in the 022 SN# range blow the fuses again, I am going to have to try to return them and I need to get some more fuses anyway.
Spacing between LED's
Spacing between LED's
Hello,
I'm doing 3 linear strips over my 48" tank with a spacing of about 3.5" between LED's. I'm doing 24 RB XTE's and 6 CW XPG and 6 NW XPG about 8" off the water, I have 80 deg optics, I haven't decided if I need them or not. I'm wondering if this layout is ok (good color mixing) or if I need to stagger my whites? This is over a standard 90g, currently keeping just some softies, so I know that I will need to add another strip or two down the road, but for now my lighting is just the stock 15w lights that come with a fresh water tank, so this is a huge upgrade.
B - ROYAL BLUE
C - COOL WHITE
N - NEUTRAL WHITE
Layout 3.5" between LED centered on a 48" u channel 12 LED's per channel
B-C-B-B-N-B-B-C-B-B-N-B
B-N-B-B-C-B-B-N-B-B-C-B
B-C-B-B-N-B-B-C-B-B-N-B
Also any recommendations as to amp's per string 3 strings in series each on its own meanwell 60-48P, one of XPG's(1A or .9A or something else) two of XTE's (.75A or .9A or...?)
Thanks,
Dan
Spacing between LED's
Hello,
I'm doing 3 linear strips over my 48" tank with a spacing of about 3.5" between LED's. I'm doing 24 RB XTE's and 6 CW XPG and 6 NW XPG about 8" off the water, I have 80 deg optics, I haven't decided if I need them or not. I'm wondering if this layout is ok (good color mixing) or if I need to stagger my whites? This is over a standard 90g, currently keeping just some softies, so I know that I will need to add another strip or two down the road, but for now my lighting is just the stock 15w lights that come with a fresh water tank, so this is a huge upgrade.
B - ROYAL BLUE
C - COOL WHITE
N - NEUTRAL WHITE
Layout 3.5" between LED centered on a 48" u channel 12 LED's per channel
B-C-B-B-N-B-B-C-B-B-N-B
B-N-B-B-C-B-B-N-B-B-C-B
B-C-B-B-N-B-B-C-B-B-N-B
Also any recommendations as to amp's per string 3 strings in series each on its own meanwell 60-48P, one of XPG's(1A or .9A or something else) two of XTE's (.75A or .9A or...?)
Thanks,
Dan
Last edited:
TheFishMan65
New member
I think the mixing will be fine.
I would run 2 ELN one for the whites (up to 1.3 amps) and put two strings of 12 in parallel on the second (up to 650ma).
I would run 2 ELN one for the whites (up to 1.3 amps) and put two strings of 12 in parallel on the second (up to 650ma).
I'm working on a 192 LED fixture and I'm just about done but would like to see if you guys see anything wrong. I have all the LEDs all wired up. I'm going with 72 white LEDs running 6 parallel strings of 12. I have 120 royal blues so I will run 2 separate drivers, 5 parallel strings of 5. I'm using 3 Mean Well HLG-185-42B drivers.
My main question now is with the resistors. Oh I forgot to mention that I am using 700mA LEDs from China so. I know that when using Cree LEDs you use 1 OHM 5w resistors. I don't know squat about electronics so my friend told me to use 750 OHM resistors for my LEds. I bought some yesterday from a local electronic store and they look really old and corroded.
Here is a picture of the old looking corroded resistors. Is it ok to use them? Are they right ones for my set up?
I am also going to be using fuses on every single string.
To control the lights I got a typhoon controller
Here is a shot with all the LEDs all wired up
My main question now is with the resistors. Oh I forgot to mention that I am using 700mA LEDs from China so. I know that when using Cree LEDs you use 1 OHM 5w resistors. I don't know squat about electronics so my friend told me to use 750 OHM resistors for my LEds. I bought some yesterday from a local electronic store and they look really old and corroded.
Here is a picture of the old looking corroded resistors. Is it ok to use them? Are they right ones for my set up?
I am also going to be using fuses on every single string.
To control the lights I got a typhoon controller
Here is a shot with all the LEDs all wired up
reeferdale
New member
Hi guys,
Just finished wiring 2 drivers up to the rig. A few things to throw out here
1. It appears 2 of my 4 drivers have an issue. I have the following serial numbers on my drivers
RB180 73 709 & RB180 73 711, these operate fine and these are the ones I am using for running and balancing the strings discussed below. the other 2 drivers have serial numbers RB022 24 635 & RB022 24 662. These 2 drivers, with the dimming POT all the way down, have caused all 5 strings of the blues to blow their fuses just after plugging them in. I noticed that the blue LEDs appeared to vibrate or flicker a bit when turned on. When I connected the whites, which can be driven up to 1500mA, I noticed the same full brighness and flickering and I quickly unplugged them. I am going to contact Bill at reefledlights to see about swapping these out.
In the mean time, I have numbers from the strings I am running with the 2 good drivers
Blues 857, 712, 631, 716, 507
Whites 702, 738, 743, 721, 765, 806
The whites look pretty good, LEDs from string 1 and 6 need to be swapped.
QUESTION: I believe I need to take the highest LED from the low string and the lowest LED from the high string and swap them, correct?
For the blues, same thing starting with the 857 and 507 string, correct? Then keep working the highest and lowest strings?
Now here is the really obtuse QUESTION, I want to make sure I am doing this right so how should I be measuring the vf of each LED? Do I just measure each LED like I did accross the resistors? Do I measure from pad to pad on the same LED or should I be measuring from a pad on 1 LED before and a pad from one LED after the one I am trying to get the vf from? I am going to review my notes and look through the LED threads. I want to build a matrix of all the LEDs vf and then I should know which ones I can swap to try to start balancing this out
thanks
Just finished wiring 2 drivers up to the rig. A few things to throw out here
1. It appears 2 of my 4 drivers have an issue. I have the following serial numbers on my drivers
RB180 73 709 & RB180 73 711, these operate fine and these are the ones I am using for running and balancing the strings discussed below. the other 2 drivers have serial numbers RB022 24 635 & RB022 24 662. These 2 drivers, with the dimming POT all the way down, have caused all 5 strings of the blues to blow their fuses just after plugging them in. I noticed that the blue LEDs appeared to vibrate or flicker a bit when turned on. When I connected the whites, which can be driven up to 1500mA, I noticed the same full brighness and flickering and I quickly unplugged them. I am going to contact Bill at reefledlights to see about swapping these out.
In the mean time, I have numbers from the strings I am running with the 2 good drivers
Blues 857, 712, 631, 716, 507
Whites 702, 738, 743, 721, 765, 806
The whites look pretty good, LEDs from string 1 and 6 need to be swapped.
QUESTION: I believe I need to take the highest LED from the low string and the lowest LED from the high string and swap them, correct?
For the blues, same thing starting with the 857 and 507 string, correct? Then keep working the highest and lowest strings?
Now here is the really obtuse QUESTION, I want to make sure I am doing this right so how should I be measuring the vf of each LED? Do I just measure each LED like I did accross the resistors? Do I measure from pad to pad on the same LED or should I be measuring from a pad on 1 LED before and a pad from one LED after the one I am trying to get the vf from? I am going to review my notes and look through the LED threads. I want to build a matrix of all the LEDs vf and then I should know which ones I can swap to try to start balancing this out
thanks
TheFishMan65
New member
Guil 750 ohm resistors will not work. They will not allow enough current to flow. You want 1 ohm 5 watt still. The resistor does not usually change. You can go to a smaller one say 0.1 ohm, but then the voltage is not a direct read of the current.
TheFishMan65
New member
Generally it is low to high, but sometimes that is too much and the high and low string swap. Either the pad or the next LED over will work. 507 to 857 seems way off make sure you have good solder connection. I poor one could increase the resistance and there by the voltage drop. Resoldering could then change the voltage drop if you switched that one).
thanx for the response, just went to replace them for the 1 OHM.
kcress
New member
reeferdale; Good thing you had fuses... That would've cost you a lot of $$$ otherwise. 
As far apart as your strings blue strings are I would swap the lowest and the highest. Tell us what happens please.
For your whites you could pick slightly closer ones. You should strive for less than 50mA difference.
As far apart as your strings blue strings are I would swap the lowest and the highest. Tell us what happens please.
For your whites you could pick slightly closer ones. You should strive for less than 50mA difference.
reeferdale
New member
reeferdale; Good thing you had fuses... That would've cost you a lot of $$$ otherwise.
As far apart as your strings blue strings are I would swap the lowest and the highest. Tell us what happens please.
For your whites you could pick slightly closer ones. You should strive for less than 50mA difference.
Thanks, yeah, I want to build a matrix of all the LEDs and label them. Then I should be able to make an educated guess on what will happen if I swap two specific LEDs. Hopefully doing this will allow me to make less changes.
I am waiting to hear from Bill at R.L.L. about the drivers. I am going to wire up the other half using the 2 good drivers I have. I will need to wait to balance them til I get 2 new drivers
kcress
New member
I wouldn't bother with a matrix.. Lotta work for not a big payoff. See, you do this whole matrix thing and make a change. INSTANTLY every value in the matrix is now different. Pick two strings and work with just them. The two farthest apart typically. Step and repeat until you're satisfied.
reeferdale
New member
Thanks, I will keep that in mind and try to isolate a matrix of all vf on each LED. Then I may be able to pick and chose which ones to swap. Hopefully I can then reduce the number of times I need to do this.
I will check the solder on the blues, they do seem to have a pretty big spread, especially when compared to the whites. I do have some regular blue LEDs mixed on the same string as the royal blues, they probably have a different spec and may be part of the reason that the blues are farther off. Although I also have some NW mixed in with the CW also and they seem to be pretty close. I am going to measure all the LEDs tonight or tomorrow and I am sure I can get these balanced over the weekend. Unforunatly I can only balance 1/2 the rig until I get the 2 replacement drivers. I am going to finish installing the other 3 heat sinks and wire them up using the 2 good drivers and I will blalance these out. I don't think it is a good idea to balance the other 1/2 until I get the permanent drivers for them.
thanks
